Sumitomo May Expand Sodium-Ion Battery Sales to Carmakers

By Masatsugu Horie -
Nov 11, 2011

Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd. (5802)
plans to sell a sodium-ion battery it is developing to makers of
electric and hybrid passenger cars, expanding beyond the
original target of commercial-vehicle fleet operators.

“Technically, it should be possible,” Mitsuo Nishida, a
senior managing director at the Osaka-based company, said in an
interview. “We can expect overall sales of the batteries to be
boosted because we are now targeting a much big sector of the
automotive market.”

Sumitomo, which supplies electrical wiring to Toyota Motor
Corp. and Volkswagen AG, said in March it developed a cheaper
alternative to lithium-ion batteries that uses liquefied salt as
an electrolyte. It aims to begin production of the batteries in
2015 and targets revenue of more than 1 trillion yen ($13
billion), Chief Executive Officer Masayoshi Matsumoto said at
the time. Nishida this week said he expects the technology to
start producing revenue no later than 2017.

Demand for electric car batteries is expected to increase
as Mitsubishi Motor Corp. starts sales of its i-MiEV car and
Nissan Motor Co. markets its Leaf model. Toyota, the world’s
biggest maker of gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles last year,
plans to start selling electric cars next year, while Nissan
Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn has set a goal of making his
company the leader in the sector. Ghosn projects demand for
electric cars to increase to 10 percent of all auto sales by
2020, assuming oil costs more than $70 a barrel.

Cheaper, Safer

Sumitomo Electric said its new battery can be made cheaper
and safer compared with lithium-ion batteries because liquefied
salt costs less and is noncombustible. It had previously said
the product may be applied only to buses or trucks because
commercial vehicles usually travel on specified routes, allowing
for regular checks to ensure the battery’s temperature remains
at a level that prevents the electrolyte from solidifying,
according to spokesman Masatoshi Nakata.

In Japan, commercial vehicles sales last year accounted for
13 percent of total car market, or about 1.21 million units,
according to the website of Japan Automobile Manufacturers
Association.

Carmakers are concerned lithium-ion batteries will be too
expensive and are looking for alternatives, said Takeshi Miyao,
an analyst at consulting company Carnorama in Tokyo.

“They are developing various types of batteries on their
own so we don’t know whether they would need to buy from
Sumitomo,” Miyao said. “There is still much unknown about the
quality of the company’s new battery.”

Sumitomo Electric has fallen 27 percent this year, in line
with its peers on the 24-member Topix Nonferrous Metals Index
and more than the 17 percent drop in Japan’s benchmark Nikkei
Stock Average. It gained for the first time in a week today,
closing 2 percent higher at 820 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.